Billy (William) Stapleton

Died on April 26, 2020

The death has taken place of Billy (William) Stapleton, Ladywell, Thomastown Co Kilkenny on Sunday 26th April 2020 peacefully at St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny surrounded by his loving family. Sadly missed by his loving wife Patricia, sons Lawrence, Alan, Mark and Robert, daughters Dawn and Colette, grandchildren Amy, Caragh, William, Eoin, Michelle, Alison, Ella, Liam, Donal, Aisling, Eadaoin, Molly, Tom and Finn, brothers Frank and Tony, sisters Ann, Binty and Bessy, sons in law Mike, Declan and Mick, daughters in law Margery, Sarah and Christine, nieces and nephews, extended family and friends. Predeceased by his brothers Joe, Pat, John, Larry, Bernie, Tom and Mick Dack, sisters Kit, Molly, Peggy and Unie.

A private Funeral will take place due to government advice regarding public gatherings. A memorial Mass will take place at a later date.

A box will be provided for donations to the Thomastown Anglers (children’s prize fund) and Alzheimers.ie for online donations.

A live stream of Billy’s funeral (Tuesday 10.50am) can be viewed on this link: https://youtu.be/9pPtNAoo3d

MAY BILLY REST IN PEACE

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Reflection

“The sun will be darkened.” How does Pope Francis say we can help bring light back to the darkened sun? And what can we learn from the fig tree?
Dear brothers and sisters, that is the word that makes hope blossom in the world and relieves the suffering of the poor: tenderness. Compassion that leads you to tenderness. We need to overcome our self-absorption, interior rigidity, which is the temptation nowadays, that of the “restorationists”, who want a Church completely orderly, completely rigid: this is not of the Holy Spirit.
We have to overcome this, in order to make hope blossom amid this rigidity. It is up to us to overcome the temptation to be concerned only about our own problems; we need to grow tender before the tragedies of our world, to share its pain. Like the tender leaves of a tree, we are called to absorb the pollution all around us and turn it into goodness.
It is useless to keep talking about problems, to argue and to be scandalized – all of us can do that. What we need to do is imitate the leaves that daily, imperceptibly, turn dirty air into clean air. Jesus wants us to be “converters” of goodness: people who breathe the same heavy air as everyone else, but respond to evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21). People who act: by breaking bread with the hungry, working for justice, lifting up the poor and restoring their dignity. As the Samaritan did.
Pope Francis